New vans – 2016’s big winners

As you know, 2016 was a record year for registrations of new vans. Over 375,000 new vans were sold last year as the van market enjoyed record demand.

Inevitably, some manufacturers will have done better than others. Whose sales grew? Who improved their market share? Who will be looking to capitalise in 2017, and who is most likely to prosper? Read on to find out.

New van registrations

Looking at the figures, a few manufacturers stand out immediately – Ford, Volkswagen and Nissan. Ford’s presence is nothing new; they’ve dominated the charts for years and also made some significant changes to their already fantastic Transit range in 2016. Similarly, Volkswagen were busy.

As it attempts to move on from the emissions scandal, two new Volkswagen light commercials were announced last year. The Amarok pickup got a facelift and new V6 engine, while the Crafter broke free of its Mercedes Sprinter-shaped shackles and re-launched as a completely new van. Finally, Nissan replaced the Primastar with the NV300.

On the face of it, it seems that this activity worked wonders for the trio last year – all increased their sales and market share.

Ford vans

In December, Ford saw an increase of year-on-year sales, with an additional 1184 vans sold compared to December 2015 – an increase in market share of 7.39 percent. This was far and away the biggest jump – which is unsurprising when you remember that the Transit Custom and Transit account for almost 80,000 out of 375,000 registrations in 2016.

If you compare Ford’s 2015 and 2016 results, you’ll see an increase in sales of 15,292 units – an increase in market share of 3.8 percent, to 30.76. This means that for every three new vans sold, one is likely to be a Ford.

Volkswagen vans

Volkswagen also enjoyed a good year, as December’s year-on-year figures saw an increase of 977 units to 3,458 – translating to a market share of 12.7 percent for the month. However, VW only managed to improve their full year sales by 2267 units, which may sound great, but only reflects a small improvement in their market share of 0.48 percent. The German manufacturer will be pinning its hopes on the Crafter – the newly-crowned International Van of the Year – this year.

Nissan vans

2016 was also a good year for Nissan. December 2016 saw their market share rise by 2.35 percent year-on-year, to 4.13 percent. This was facilitated by a rise in sales of 585 units. It’s a similar story for the whole 12 months – Nissan sold over 4,000 additional new vans last year, with sales of 15,728 units representing a 1.06 percent increase in market share.